1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for collaboration between multiple parties for the purpose of managing the content of electronic catalogs, such as the descriptions and values of the parameters of items in electronic catalogs. More particularly, the invention relates to utilizing a centralized hub for the collaboration.
2. Description of the Related Art
Searchable electronic catalogs are commonly used in support of various electronic commerce and purchasing functions. These catalogs typically have a user interface for selectively retrieving and displaying records as well as a system for electronically purchasing any items that are selected. Some such electronic purchasing systems are built within complex database structures such as an Enterprise Resource Planning system. There may be aspects of the catalog stored in several different tables and even different databases, for example a vendor master, materiel master, item master and more. This type of structure, while it may be convenient when used in an Enterprise Resource Planning system, renders the catalog difficult and cumbersome to manage and maintain. It also tends to encourage and hide obsolete, redundant and conflicting information within the many tables. The information in a buyer catalog can quickly become out of date from the latest information available from the suppliers of the items.
In order to manage and administer the items in the catalog to correct for these deficiencies, specialized tools, developed specifically for the particular hosting system, are typically required. This makes it necessary for the catalog administrator or manager to be familiar with all the particular specialized tools necessary for each database. The specialized formats and tools also make it very difficult to compare a catalog against a reference or secondary catalog. Currently, several different formats are used for catalogs and for enterprise software, so an expert with one catalog may not be able to work with another catalog. The catalog administrator may also not be aware of the latest changes or additions that should be made to the catalog information.
With some hosting systems, it may be possible to convert the catalog into amore common format, operate on the catalog and then convert it back into the format of the hosting system. For example, data in an Oracle database may be convertible to a spreadsheet or text file, modified, then converted back into a replacement dataset for the Oracle database. This requires tools provided by Oracle or others to do the conversion. The common format also limits the kinds of operations and analysis that can be performed. Most of the desired operations must also be performed manually.